The topic of the Daily Post for today is Rhthym.
Rhythm is important. We all have our own rhythm. It shows in our writing. I studied rhythm and meter. Poetry is made up of these. Trying to force rhythm is hard. Writing this is hard. It’s easier to follow your natural flow. This feels awkward.
It’s actually really hard to write in short sentences like that. To me, short sentences make me feel almost panicked, like everything is rushed and cut too short. Overly long sentences can seem either like rambling or like way too much detail.
I actually know two people who talk in those two extremes. Honestly, there are times it drives me crazy. My friend, she is always talking so fast and stopping short of what she was saying. It’s hard to keep up with her at times. She’ll call me up and say, “Hi! I saw this movie. It was really good. You should watch it. I think it’s called “Some movie.” So and so also loved it. Are you gonna see it?” Meanwhile, I’m still trying to process everything she just said.
Whereas my Mother, she goes into detail about every last thing. It’s maddening. A phone call from her sounds like, ” I was watering my plants the other day and I noticed this leaf that was much lighter green than any of the other leaves so leaned in to get a better look at it, and I swear to god, a bee came zooming out from somewhere inside the pot and nearly gave me a heart attack.” She will squeeze and entire story into one sentence.
For them, it sounds normal. I suppose I probably write somewhere in the middle. When I write prose, I honestly don’t pay attention to it until I revise. Only then, I’ll focus on the rhythm and length of my sentences. When I write poetry, I do pay a lot more attention to my lines and sentences.
Hmm, I feel like this post got away from me.
I like the way you handled this post, especially the phone-call examples were excellent! I agree, writing prose you just write the way it comes out and you revise later. I can imagine with poetry it would be altogether different. But then I don’t feel I want to write poetry. I sometimes like to read poetry or listen to it being recited. However I don’t like poetry when I can’t figure out the meaning of it.
Sometimes poetry can be a little cryptic. It is frustrating when you don’t understand what it’s about. I usually just move onto another poem if I don’t understand what it is trying to say. Poetry, you do have to focus on meter and rhythm more than with prose, especially for rhyming poems. I prefer to write more free style poems.
Can some free style poetry be included with your prose? I reckon poetry is easier to understand when it is part of prose writing. Maybe it can express feelings better than any prose writing. What do you think?
Yes, I think it just all depends on how you write and what words you choose. I love poetry and when I write it, I try to make sure that the point I’m trying to make is clear, just not blatantly obvious.
I could say “I sure do love apples.” Or I could write a poem about loving them without actually using the word apple anywhere in it. You could do the same with prose as well, it just all depends on the style of writing that you want to go with, I suppose.
Yes, thank you for your comments. They’re very helpful.